NBC News Accused of Editing 911 Call in Trayvon Martin issue
BartSimpson @ Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:17 pm
FOX News got this one right.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/t ... all-306359
$1:
Critics say the "Today" show attempted to incite racial anger when it cut crucial seconds from audio of a phone call placed by George Zimmerman just before he killed the teenager.
NBC News is being excoriated in some circles – with competitor Fox News Channel leading the charge – for selectively editing audio of the 911 call placed by George Zimmerman just before he killed Trayvon Martin.
The NBC segment in question featured anchor Ron Allen and ran on the Today show on Tuesday. On Thursday, Sean Hannity and guest Brent Bozell played the NBC version of the 911 call and compared it with the unedited version.
In the NBC segment, Zimmerman says: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.”
The full version, though, unfolds like this:
Zimmerman: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.”
911 operator: “Okay. And this guy, is he white black or Hispanic?”
Zimmerman: “He looks black.”
After playing both versions, Hannity said: “They forgot the dispatcher’s question! How could NBC, in good conscience, do that?”
“This isn’t bias, this isn’t distortion, this is an all-out falsehood by NBC News,” answers Bozell, who runs a conservative watchdog group called the Media Research Center.
“When you hear him say, ‘he looks black,’ anyone watching that believes that there are racial overtones to what this man did,” Bozell says. “How could you not believe that? It goes with the narrative of the profiling. The only problem is, they edited out the dispatcher asking him, ‘what does he look like?’”
NBC News declined to comment.
Zimmerman, a volunteer community-watch participant shot and killed Martin on Feb. 26 in Florida, and some Democratic lawmakers and civil rights activists have called it a hate crime, accusing Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, of racially profiling Martin, who was a 17-year-old African American male.
“This is NBC News, Brent, and this is what they did at a time when emotions are running very high in this country,” Hannity said during his Thursday night TV show.
“Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer, I wonder if they’re proud tonight?” Hannity asked.
NBC News is being excoriated in some circles – with competitor Fox News Channel leading the charge – for selectively editing audio of the 911 call placed by George Zimmerman just before he killed Trayvon Martin.
The NBC segment in question featured anchor Ron Allen and ran on the Today show on Tuesday. On Thursday, Sean Hannity and guest Brent Bozell played the NBC version of the 911 call and compared it with the unedited version.
In the NBC segment, Zimmerman says: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.”
The full version, though, unfolds like this:
Zimmerman: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.”
911 operator: “Okay. And this guy, is he white black or Hispanic?”
Zimmerman: “He looks black.”
After playing both versions, Hannity said: “They forgot the dispatcher’s question! How could NBC, in good conscience, do that?”
“This isn’t bias, this isn’t distortion, this is an all-out falsehood by NBC News,” answers Bozell, who runs a conservative watchdog group called the Media Research Center.
“When you hear him say, ‘he looks black,’ anyone watching that believes that there are racial overtones to what this man did,” Bozell says. “How could you not believe that? It goes with the narrative of the profiling. The only problem is, they edited out the dispatcher asking him, ‘what does he look like?’”
NBC News declined to comment.
Zimmerman, a volunteer community-watch participant shot and killed Martin on Feb. 26 in Florida, and some Democratic lawmakers and civil rights activists have called it a hate crime, accusing Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, of racially profiling Martin, who was a 17-year-old African American male.
“This is NBC News, Brent, and this is what they did at a time when emotions are running very high in this country,” Hannity said during his Thursday night TV show.
“Tom Brokaw, Matt Lauer, I wonder if they’re proud tonight?” Hannity asked.
BartSimpson @ Fri Mar 30, 2012 4:19 pm
This is what we're talking about in the USA when we talk about media bias. 
DanSC @ Fri Mar 30, 2012 5:43 pm
I'm guessing they'd edit the tape more for dramatic effect than to incite a "Kill the Peruvians!" mob, but it's still bad journalism ethics.
Brenda @ Fri Mar 30, 2012 5:45 pm
NBC was not the only one broadcasting the tapes (completely or edited), and you can find the full version on youtube.
sandorski @ Fri Mar 30, 2012 6:57 pm
They shouldn't have done that, but still, Fox News is one to talk.
xerxes @ Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:30 am
The fact that Sean Hannity and Brent Bozell are leading the charge makes me very suspicious.
Zipperfish @ Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:58 am
When the media is reporting on other media, you know it's a slow news day.
You are right Bart--this is an example of media bias. A so-called news organization doing reporting on what other media are doing instead of reporting the news.
I agree wiht xerxes--if you're trying to offer upHannity as a disinterested opbserver, you've lost your argument right there.
Psudo @ Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:50 am
It is stupid for Fox News to report about how news is reported, but it was also stupid for NBC to edit the tape in a way that makes it look racist when it's not. I think this makes TV news look bad in general.
BCcitizen @ Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:05 am
Oldest trick in the book, manipulation of fact to promote fear in the U.S.
BartSimpson @ Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:18 am
Forgive the necro but for some who don't know this kid I figured placing it in the context of a thread with more info would help.
So remember how the media cast poor little Trayvon as a nice, law-abiding kid who'd never hurt a fly?
Yeah, well here's the little thug refereeing a street fight. This should remove all doubt that the little creep being some innocent honors student.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqweax ... urtis_news
andyt @ Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:28 am
And maybe its time to let the justice system work. On the face of it, I don't see why somebody should die because they're not an honors student. Or because they're walking while black. But if the shooter acted reasonably, let it come out in court. Thankfully there will be a court case after the outcry.
Lemmy @ Thu Mar 28, 2013 8:34 am
FWIW:
Xort @ Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:35 am
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
Yeah, well here's the little thug refereeing a street fight. This should remove all doubt that the little creep being some innocent honors student.
I thought it was unofficaly established a long time ago that Mr. Martin was a bully and a drug dealer?
The whole reason he was at that house was because he had been removed from his normal school for bringing drugs to school.
BartSimpson @ Thu Mar 28, 2013 2:59 pm
Xort Xort:
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
Yeah, well here's the little thug refereeing a street fight. This should remove all doubt that the little creep being some innocent honors student.
I thought it was unofficaly established a long time ago that Mr. Martin was a bully and a drug dealer?
The whole reason he was at that house was because he had been removed from his normal school for bringing drugs to school.
The stories about his being a drug dealer are written while this is video. People tend to react better to video than they do to written evidence.